Got GFCI Protection? This is a must have in your home

During a home inspection in the Youngstown area, we test for GFCI protection (Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter). These are designed to be a safety measure for outlets in water or moisture exposed areas such as around kitchen or bath sinks, exterior locations, laundry, garages, etc. These will shut off in the event a ground fault is detected. As home inspectors, we'll check not only to make sure they are in the correct areas but also that they are functioning.    

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The number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers

The number one cause of lung cancer in non-smokers is radon. Radon gas is a colorless/odorless gas that is in everyone's' home. The EPA recommends every home be tested. The standard for measurement for radon mitigation is recommended at 4.0pCi/L or above. Testing typically take a minimum of 48 hours. Test kits are available at local hardware stores, however, they don't give you an hour by hour reading like professional radon monitors do. So what do you do if you have high radon in your home? Below is a video of what a radon mitigation system will look like. After this home was tested during a home inspection, it was discovered that the level was at 30pCi/L! That is way high radon levels! After Bloodhound Environmental installed the radon mitigation system, these levels dropped from 30pCi/L all the way down under 1 at a 0.4pCi/L. This family can now breathe easy! 

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You Don't Want To See Mutant Green in the Water

One of the services we provide in addition to our normal home inspections is septic dye testing. In running these tests, we dump about a gallon of dye into the toilet, sometimes green, sometimes red. Then we run a lot of water to fill the system. Depending on the size of the home we may run water 45 minutes to an hour and a half. Then we check the field to see if any dye leaked out or in this case a small stream running on the property. You can see in the video the bright green in the water. That is not good.

 

One of the worst decks I've ever inspected

As a home inspector of 18 years, I've done quite a few home inspections around the Youngstown area. There's always something new I'll find every day and the video of the deck below was the most defects I've found on one deck. Safety is always a key factor during these inspections and this deck was definitely not safe. So many things were wrong that I had to put it in video as it would be a long read. Enjoy! 

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Free Continuing Education For Real Estate Agents, sponsored by Bloodhound Home Inspection Services

We're sponsoring free State approved continuing education courses for Ohio Real Estate Agents (soon to be approved in PA) throughout the year. As a bonus, any agent that attends our classes will be entered into a year end drawing for a $250 Amazon Gift Card, to be drawn after Thanksgiving. To see the current class schedule and to register visit the course registration page here.

Unbelievable find!

Look what we found on a recent home inspection...

Inspections aren't just for Buyers, Sellers benefit as well

What sellers don't realize is that the inspection of their home is placed in the wrong part of the transaction, towards the end. So many times, we, as inspectors are contracted by the buyer of the home. We come in, inspect, and may discover major issues that the seller was not aware were present. Negotiations come to a halt and the buyer walks away. This leaves the seller with a lot of wasted time off the market and incurring additional costs not only in house payments, but also in utility, maintenance, and insurance costs. It may also cost them their own dream home if they had another bid on a new home that was contingent on the sale of their present home. So why take the gamble? Why put the negotiation process in the hands of the buyer on your home? Is it the cost of the inspection? Does the seller feel that any problems with the home should be the new buyer's problem? Getting a home pre-inspected before the buyer puts the seller in the driver's seat of negotiations. Sellers can discover issues that may hold up the sale of their home, get issues repaired in their time frame with competing bids on the work in order to get the best price, and have a smoother transaction by having real/firm bids from buyers based on the condition of the home. No longer will you need to negotiate twice on the sale of your home, once on price, and a second time on repairs. Negotiate on price only with full transparency and get the most money out of your home, sell in less time and have a smoother transaction all the way to the bank.